LOGINMarisol’s POVTime stopped as Luna’s tiny fingers reached toward the nightmare above us.“Don’t let them touch!” Morrigan shouted, but it was too late.The Devourer’s formless appendage made contact with Luna’s hand.Light exploded outward not the creature’s darkness, but pure silver-white radiance from my daughter. The Devourer shrieked and recoiled violently.Where Luna had touched it, the creature’s form was crystallized, solid.“Impossible,” Dr. Rhodes breathed. “She didn’t absorb its power. She transformed it.”Aurora reached out now, her hand glowing orange-red. When she touched the air, cold fire erupted, freezing moisture into glittering ice crystals.“They’re rewriting the rules of magic itself,” Morrigan whispered.The Devourer pulled back, hovering above the ruined lodge.*WRONG. SOURCES ARE WRONG. THEY TASTE OF CREATION. NOT CONSUMPTION.*“It’s confused,” Dr. Rhodes said. “Devourers consume energy. But your daughters’ power is generative, not destructive.”The creature beg
Marisol’s POVShe arrived at dawn, walking through our reinforced perimeter like it didn’t exist.I was feeding Luna when the guards called, voices tight with confusion. “Ma’am, we have a situation. An elderly woman just appeared at the main gate. Our sensors didn’t detect her approach she just… materialized.”“That’s impossible,” Kael said, already moving toward the security monitors.“That’s what we said. But she’s asking for you by name. Both of you.”We found her waiting in the main hall, and despite her harmless appearance silver hair, simple traveling clothes, weathered face something about her made every instinct I had scream danger.“Alpha Blackwood. Luna Marisol.” Her voice was surprisingly strong for someone who looked seventy. “My name is Morrigan. I’ve been tracking your daughters since the moment they drew their first breath.”Kael moved protectively in front of me. “Explain. Now.”“I’m a historian. A very, very old one.” She smiled, and suddenly the air around her ripple
Marisol’s POV“I decoded more of Thomas’s files,” Kael said, pulling up his laptop in our private office. The twins were finally asleep after a fussy evening, and we’d stolen this rare moment alone. Outside, the compound was quiet except for the usual patrol sounds.Encrypted documents filled the screen pages and pages of coded information that Vera’s tech team had spent weeks breaking down. Names, dates, financial transactions spanning decades. Bank accounts in countries I’d never heard of. Shell corporations layered so deep they seemed designed to hide something massive.“The Architect has been planning this for over fifty years,” Kael continued, his finger scrolling through files. “Every major supernatural event in the last half-century the Conclave wars, the pack territory shifts, even the development of modern fertility technology it’s all connected.”I leaned closer to the screen, my scientist brain trying to make sense of the data. “Connected how?”“Like pieces on a chess board
Marisol's POVLuna took her first steps on a Tuesday.I was in the kitchen making breakfast when Kael's shout echoed from the living room. I ran in to find him on his knees, arms outstretched, while our daughter wobbled toward him on unsteady legs."Did you see that?" His voice cracked with pride. "She's walking!"Aurora, not to be outdone, pulled herself up on the couch and took three steps before falling on her bottom. She looked surprised, then determined."They're six months old," I said, laughing and crying. "They shouldn't be walking for another six months at least.""They're extraordinary. Just like their mother." Kael scooped up Luna, spinning her while she giggled.Six months since Chicago. Six months since the world changed forever.The new Conclave had been officially established three months ago. Kael and I sat on the council alongside Sabine, Marion from the Unbound, and two human representatives. It wasn't perfect. Attacks still happened human extremists bombing hybrid s
Marisol’s POVThree days after Chicago, the world was still reeling.Every news channel showed the same footage creatures emerging from a portal, wolves fighting, two newborn babies glowing with power that erased monsters. The internet had exploded with theories, panic, and surprisingly, support.“Seventy percent approval rating for supernatural beings existing,” Vera said, watching the news. “Sixty percent want peaceful coexistence.”“And the other forty percent?” I asked, adjusting Luna in my arms.“Want us all dead or contained.” Vera switched channels. “Three governments are demanding the Conclave reveal itself. The UN is calling an emergency session.”Kael walked in carrying Aurora. “Let them call sessions. We’re not going anywhere until the girls are stronger.”The babies were growing fast. Too fast. They’d already gained two pounds each, and their eyes were silver like Kael’s.“The Conclave sent another message,” Gray reported. “Elder Sabine wants to meet. Tomorrow, alone, unde
Marisol’s POVPain consumed everything.I’d thought I understood pain before betrayal, heartbreak, wendigo attacks. But this was different. This was my body tearing itself apart to bring life into a world that wanted to destroy it.“Push,” Seraphine commanded. “Now, Marisol. Push!”I pushed, screaming, feeling something give. Through the bond, Kael’s anguish matched my own. He was at the door in wolf form, holding back three creatures while Vera and Gray fought beside him.The door was buckling.“First one’s crowning,” Seraphine said. “One more push. Come on!”I bore down with everything I had. Through my tears, I heard it a cry. High, piercing, furious.“She’s here,” Seraphine breathed. “First daughter is here.”“Is she” I couldn’t finish.“Breathing. Small, but breathing.” Seraphine cleaned her quickly, wrapped her in something. “But we’re not done. The second one’s coming.”Another contraction, and I didn’t think I had anything left. My vision was blurring. Everything hurt.“Mariso







